Discussion: Thousand-Year Sheen - The Rediscovery of Glazed Ceramics
For thousands of years, glazed ceramics have been the material of choice for temples, churches and palaces. At the beginning of the twentieth century, when modernist tenets held that structural members should be visible, it appeared that ornamental tiles would forever be banned from high-minded works of architecture. And yet, buildings clad in glazed ceramics are once again en vogue. What is the explanation for this? Firstly, there is currently a general trend toward sensuous materials, as well as a desire to be unique. There seems to be a consensus that the potential of glazed facades has been exhausted - perhaps this is the chance for a new beginning for glazed ceramics. In contrast to enamel, in which glass fibres are melted - unalterably - on sheet steel, glazed ceramics can be executed in three dimensions.
